Secure Document SharingSecure Document Sharing

June 27, 2018 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
The Impact of Inflation Over the long run, stock markets are expected to deliver returns well beyond the rate of inflation. That is, the $1 you invest in today’s stock markets should still provide $1 or more worth of purchasing power decades into the future. In exchange, you must tolerate volatility risk, which can cause your account balances to bounce around wildly, often uncomfortably, along the way. In contrast, “safe” Treasury bonds...

June 4, 2018 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
Doing Better With Global Diversification In two previous posts, here and here, we shared a pair of Dimensional Fund Advisor videos based on historical U.S. market returns data. If we really want to share this tale of evidence-based investing in living color, we’ve got to go global. While global returns data doesn’t go back as far – 1973 vs. 1926 for U.S. returns – it still has its own important story...

May 29, 2018 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
The Ups and Downs of Stocks and Bonds In our recent post, “What’s Up with Inflation?” we introduced a trio of videos Dimensional Fund Advisors has shared. They help bring its Matrix Book numbers to life for those who might not want to pore through pages and pages of data by themselves. Once you know what to make of all that data, it has quite a story to tell, especially when it...

May 23, 2018 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
What’s Up with Inflation? Once upon a time (in 1982), Dimensional Fund Advisors began publishing its annual “Matrix Book,” now its longest-running publication. It's jam-packed pages of market returns data stretching back to 1926 may seem daunting at first. But, oh, the stories these numbers can tell … which they do in a trio of quick-take videos Dimensional released along with this year’s edition. Take, for example, the story of inflation. While...

May 14, 2018 in Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
The Quilt That Keeps on Covering a Diversified Investor What a difference a year sometimes DOESN’T make. For several years now, we’ve been tracking the annually updated random returns that comprise what is known as “the crazy quilt chart.” Here are this year’s results: The Crazy Quilt Chart Update To review how the chart works, each color represents an “asset class,” or a long-term source of expected market returns. By stacking each column/year...

April 17, 2018 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
An Exercise in Confusion: “Tuning Out the Noise” First, take a moment to view this powerful video, just released by Dimensional Fund Advisors.  The new millennium’s biggest financial headlines Now, before you consider the substance, how did the onslaught make you feel? Nervous? Anxious? Annoyed? Confused? Maybe all of the above! This exercise captures exactly how most investors felt as the new millennium’s biggest financial headlines were playing out in real time. As...

April 9, 2018 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
A Quarterly Tale of Risks and Returns in Real Time For the first time in a long time, U.S. and international developed stock markets alike bled off some steam this quarter. You’ll see that expressed by the bright red arrows in Dimensional Fund Advisors’ first quarter Quarterly Market Review Market Summary (page 3). While we fully expect markets will continue delivering positive long-term returns, who knows what the rest of the year...

March 26, 2018 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
March 2018 Sailing with the Tides Embarking on a financial plan is like sailing around the world. The voyage won’t always go to plan, and there’ll be rough seas. But the odds of reaching your destination increase greatly if you are prepared, flexible, patient, and well-advised. Here is this week’s article from Dimensional's Jim Parker: Sailing with the Tides. SAGE Serendipity: You want to watch TV but deciding what to watch is taking more time...

March 14, 2018 in Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
We’re back! This week, we’re following up on last week’s post on how to combine practical application and academic science to impart a wholly stronger investment strategy. It’s called evidence-based investing, and we are delighted to share excerpts of a conversation between two respected proponents of the approach: The Evidence-Based Investor journalist Robin Powell and Dimensional Fund Advisors Co-CEO Gerard O’Reilly, PhD. You can read the entire interview on Powell’s blog...

March 5, 2018 in Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
There’s little we love more than a spot-on analogy to make simple sense of investment theory – like our recent “3 Things” about how the near-term market often behaves like an unruly dog on a short leash (from “A Wealth of Common Sense” blogger Ben Carlson). That said, while informational “snacks” are nice, sometimes a more complete meal is called for. If you’ve been craving an enhanced understanding of some of...